I Saw A Lamb - Sample

STUDiES FOR LENT AND OTHER TiMES

I SAW A LAMB THE CROSS iN REvELATiON

MICHAEL RAITER

An imprint of Anglican Youthworks Published September 2020 Copyright Anglican Youthworks 2020 © Michael Raiter This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism and review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without the express permission of the publisher.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc. PO Box A287 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia P: +61 2 8268 3309 E: sales@youthworks.net W: youthworksmedia.net National Library of Australia ISBN: 978-1-925879-77-3 ISBN: 978-1-925879-78-0 (eBook) Managing editor: Cassandra Cassis Theological editor: Guangyao Un Cover and internal design: Andrew Hope Cover image: Sarah Raiter

To Eunice Hill and Debby Rupe, dear bridesmaids, friends, fellow workers and followers of the Lamb

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

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Day 1

The revelation of John Revelation 1:1–3

1

Day 2

Jesus the faithful witness Revelation 1:4–5

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Day 3

Freed!

Revelation 1:5–6

7

Day 4

Those who pierced him Revelation 1:7–11

10

Day 5

Dressed in a robe Revelation 1:12–17

13

Day 6

The seven churches Revelation 2:1–7

16

Day 7

Who died and rose again Revelation 2:8–11

19

Day 8

The victorious King Revelation 3:14–22

22

Day 9

The worship of heaven Revelation 4

25

Day 10

The Lion Revelation 5:1–5

28

Day 11

The Lamb Revelation 5:6

31

Day 12

The victory of the Lamb Revelation 5:7–8

34

Day 13

Worthy is the Lamb Revelation 5:11–14

37

Day 14

The authority of the Lamb Revelation 6:1–8

40

v

Day 15

The wrath of the Lamb Revelation 6:9–17

43

Day 16

The people of the Lamb Revelation 7:1–10

46

Day 17

The Lamb and the Shepherd Revelation 7:11–17

49

Day 18

The silence of the Lamb Revelation 8:1–5

52

Day 19

The trumpets of the Lamb Revelation 8:6–13

55

Day 20

Where their Lord was crucified Revelation 11:1–4

58

Day 21

The kingdom of the Messiah Revelation 11:15–19

61

Day 22

The woman, the child and the dragon Revelation 12:1–6

64

Day 23

The triumph of the Lamb Revelation 12:7–12

67

Day 24

The beasts Revelation 13

70

Day 25

The book of the Lamb Revelation 13:8–10

73

Day 26

Following the Lamb Revelation 14:1–5

76

Day 27

The torments of the Lamb Revelation 14:6–13

79

Day 28

The song of Moses and the Lamb Revelation 15:1–4

82

Day 29

The bowls Revelation 16

85

Day 30

War against the Lamb Revelation 17:12–14

88

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Day 31

The fall of Babylon Revelation 18

91

Day 32

The wedding of the Lamb Revelation 19:1–10

94

Day 33

The armies of the Lamb Revelation 19:11–21

97

Day 34

The reign of Christ Revelation 20:1–10

100

Day 35

Judgement day Revelation 20:11–15

103

Day 36

The new creation Revelation 21:1–8

106

Day 37

The Lamb and the Holy City Revelation 21:9–21

109

Day 38

The Lamb and the temple Revelation 21:22–27

112

Day 39

The throne of the Lamb Revelation 22:1–5

115

Day 40

Come, Lord Jesus Revelation 22:17–21

118

QUESTIONS FOR GROUP DISCUSSION OR PERSONAL REFLECTION

121

Questions for days 1–5

121

Questions for days 6–10

121

Questions for days 11–15

122

Questions for days 16–20

122

Questions for days 21–25

123

Questions for days 26–30

123

Questions for days 31–35

124

Questions for days 36–40

124

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INTRODUCTION The doomsday clock is ticking. In 1947 the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the doomsday clock to measure how close the world is to a man-made catastrophe that could end life on this planet. Each year the board, with its sponsors, reassesses the level of threat and adjusts the clock accordingly. As of the time of writing these Lenten studies the clock stood at one hundred seconds from midnight. This is the closest we’ve come to extinction. The main factors are the twin threats from nuclear weapons and climate change.

How does that make you feel? There appear to be rising levels of anxiety across our world. More young people are wondering if it’s responsible to bring children into an ‘unlivable planet’. Of course, there’s no place for complacency in the face of the very serious problems that affect the world and all its inhabitants. As stewards of God’s world, all men and women need to care for the world that has been entrusted to us. We need to work for peace. We need to protect and preserve the environment. We need vaccines for pandemics.

But do we surrender to anxiety and hopelessness? A group of scientists may have enough control to adjust a self-made doomsday clock, but they have little control over the future.

However, there is a God who made the world and at his appointed time he will ring the full-time bell on this present age.

In Revelation 5, we are introduced to the Lamb of God who is given power ‘to open the scroll and its seven seals’ (v 5). In other words, the Lord Jesus, because of his death on the cross, was exalted and given authority over human history. History is not a random series of disconnected events. It is not a runaway train. It is not an out of control teenage delinquent. History is governed by a sovereign God who has appointed his Son Lord over all things.

Lent is a special time in the church year. Over these 40 days we prepare for Easter and remember those epochal events, which are the axis upon which human history turned. During

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Lent it is appropriate to think about Jesus’ saving work on the cross and its implications for Jesus himself, his people and all humanity.

The book of Revelation is a wonderful book to immerse ourselves in over these few weeks. There is so much here about the cross of Christ, its achievements and its significance for the world. We’ll also take a bird’s-eye view of the book as a whole.

Many Christians are intimidated and ‘scared off’ by Revelation. I want to take your fear away and help you to see the simple but profound message of comfort it brings to a beleaguered church.

And, at the end of our time together, may we all with one voice, sing: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise! (Revelation 5:12) Michael Raiter

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THE REVELATION OF JOHN

DAY 1

READ REVELATION 1:1–3 I am often amazed at how quickly our society’s attitudes towards religion, and Christianity in particular, have changed.

If I could generalise, I would say that 50 years ago most Australians were sympathetic towards Christianity. We thought it was a good thing to send our children to Sunday School. When I was in a government primary school in England we sang hymns and we said the Lord’s Prayer. My classroom teacher taught us Scripture alongside Maths and English (it was the only subject I excelled in). Over the next 20 or 30 years, sympathy changed to apathy. People said things like, ‘If Jesus works for you, I’m happy for you, but I don’t need him. Personally, transcendental meditation gets me through the night’.

Now, in an astonishingly short period of time, apathy has hardened into antipathy. I mean, who would have thought that the Victorian government would attempt to implement a ban on singing Christmas carols in government schools (the Premier subsequently removed the ban).

Where will it all end? What will our country be like in just another 20 years? I find this a sobering question. I have just welcomed my first grandchild into the world. What kind of school education will she face? Will she be encouraged to question her gender identity? Will she be corrected and disciplined for saying there are two genders, male and female? Will she be forbidden to talk to her school friends about Jesus? If she attends university, will there be a Christian group on campus or will such clubs be banned? By the time she is ready to start work, will there be doors closed to her because she’s a Christian? None of these scenarios seem improbable.

The early church was similarly a church under threat. The attacks were on two fronts. First, there was the constant pressure

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of living amid a hostile society, with occasional outbursts of violent persecution. Then there were the threats from inside the church. These took the form of false teaching which undermined people’s confidence in the truth, and moral compromise with the world which led to sin or spiritual apathy. To a church under siege the apostle John is given thrilling visions which he is to pass on to the churches. Their purpose is to bolster love, faith and hope. In short, the message of this wonderful book is that God is in control and the victory belongs to him and to the Christ. All those who remain loyal to him will share in his ultimate victory.

The book, or letter, begins by telling us that John is writing a ‘revelation’ (1:1). It is an unveiling or a disclosing. It is removing the lid. It is pulling back the curtain. It is making known what was previously hidden. And it is a revelation of ‘what must soon take place’ (1:1).

Ultimately, all that is shown comes from God himself, but there has been a chain of revelation. God gave it to Jesus. Jesus sent his angel. The angel brought it to John. John told his readers—the seven churches in modern Turkey in the late first century. Finally, it has come to us—the readers of the book. In other words, what John has written here is appropriate for every church in every place in every age.

John then tells us that we are blessed if we read this book and take it to heart (v 3). So, over the next 40 days of Lent you are going to be incredibly blessed. The book of Revelation will comfort your soul, strengthen your resolve to keep following the Lamb, expose your sins and thrill your heart.

It’s my prayer that as we read and ‘see’ what John saw, these revelations will generate in our lives, and the lives of our churches, songs of worship like those that burst out on many pages of the book of Revelation.

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A PRAYER Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the Lord of heaven and earth. Thank you for protecting your church from enemies that surround us and from compromises from within. As we read these words in Revelation, strengthen and encourage us to continue following and serving the Lord Jesus, in whom alone there is salvation. Amen.

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